“I’d rather hurt you now than kill you off forever.”

The Movie: The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952 (Charles Schnee, screenwriter; Vincente Minelli, dir.)
Who says it: Kirk Douglas as maverick film producer Jonathan Shields
The context: Jonathan explains to his best friend, Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan), why he’s just made a deal that cuts Fred out of the directing job he’s always wanted; Jonathan thinks Fred would fail, and says he’s saving Fred from himself.
How to use it: Employee evaluations... disciplining teenagers... making a budget... it’s a surprisingly versatile line, if you think about it.

Actually, this line also seems appropriate for my cousin Sheila's Free Katie campaign, which you may have seen something about on the news lately. If you don't already have your Free Katie campaign t-shirts, buttons, coffee mugs, etc., check out the site; Sheila's posted several new designs, including the slogans "Run Katie Run" and my personal favorite, "Sacrificial Virgins are so third century." This may all be a little embarrassing for Ms. Holmes -- actually, it's probably not, but if it were, that might not be a bad thing.

Dizzy and I started our circuit around Gardiner this morning, but took a detour when I noticed smoke, or maybe steam, coming from the back of the Gardiner Paperboard factory. No idea what that was, but I've seen signs before of someone camping out back there: an old mattress, some blankets, signs of a campfire. Few places could be more miserable than central Maine to be homeless.

Were I a large man with a weapon, I might have gone to investigate, and offered the hypothetical homeless person some breakfast. But I am a large woman with a dog, and I've read too many Nancy Drew novels, so I passed on the other side. And now I'm going to think about that all day.

I leave for southern California at 6:00 tomorrow morning, so the blog posting will be late. If I have enough time in Logan Airport, I'll post from there; otherwise, don't look for anything until tomorrow night, when I get to Ridgecrest.